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The Sanguinarian

Wednesday, 4 January 2017

Review- Pishacha- Neil D'Silva

On the outside, he is a Pishacha – a terrifying demon compelled to eat human flesh to survive. Yet, inside, he has a tender heart that still pines for the lover of his previous human birth.

More than a century later, when he discovers that his lover has been reborn in a rich Mumbai household, and is now a beautiful woman, his heart begins to beat again with a happy rhythm.

There are monumental obstacles in his path though, the least of which is the fact that she loves another man. But, the biggest challenge is that she is human and he is demon.

To make her his, he will have to become human again; and to accomplish that, he will have to fight holy men and witch-mothers and giants, and challenge the gods themselves.

From the best-selling author of Maya’s New Husband, comes a tragic tale of forbidden love — Pishacha. Horror thrillers written in India rarely push the boundaries of storytelling, ideas of what constitutes horror, and language and prose style. Pishacha by Neil D'Silva is one of the happy exceptions. This is a compelling, hypnotizing novel that I finished in a single sitting! I was up the entire night, reading this. And I was spooked enough to look at the ceiling every few minutes for a black, amorphous shape sneaking towards me... Pishacha mashes genres very well- supernatural horror, suspense, erotica, and even a little bit of historical fiction is woven into the story very well. Neetika is a college student being chased by this presence she feels is continuously watching her, spying on her and chasing her everywhere she goes. She's in a relationship with Yug, a dashing, dapper guy who seems to be the perfect boyfriend- handsome, caring, intelligent and successful, and one whom her father too approves of. He even proposes marriage and she is about to agree...when a weird series of events rudely interrupt their union. Followed by weirder incidents in Goa, where Neetika takes a trip with her friends post exams. And then uncovering the secrets behind the life and death of her mother, who left her at childbirth. Plus the sudden appearance of a young man who buys a house from Neetika's Dad and sleeps with a strange woman called Malini. And then there is Pishacha himself. The story of his entry in the realm of Earth and the world of humans is as exciting as the journey he undertakes across India to obtain his love. This is where Pishacha scores- giving the bad guy a background, and the strong, redeeming emotion of love in his heart. The reason for which he comes back from some far off corner of the universe to find his love, Neetika. He wants to become a human to obtain her, and for that he will fight anyone- witches, holy sages etc. When Neetika goes off to investigate the mystery of her mother's death and the mystery behind her own visions, followed by Yug, and comes face to face with the Pishacha,does the mystery unfold in a shocking, nail biting climax. The gore scenes are done well. The sex is only as much as needed. The suspense behind the intertwined histories of all lead characters has been done nicely. Conflict is fleshed out well, and characterization is good. The plot is original and the pace is heady, keeping the reader hooked at every chapter ending and every twist in the tale. The quality of prose is high, grammar and punctuation is perfect and the style is very ingenious. Only nitpick I could find is that the language, in places, is a bit dated. But it doesn't take away from the story in anyway. Pishacha is a step up on Neil's bestselling debut Maya's New Husband. I'd say pick this one up for an exciting, nail biting experience if you dig supernatural horror, original storytelling, Stephen King and well written books. Pishacha